


Above All Else

by lancer365



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Canon Divergence, Drama, F/F, Family, Fluff, Light-Hearted, Romance, Some Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lancer365/pseuds/lancer365
Summary: When Alex gets a worrying message from Rollins that “Liv is freaking out”, the lawyer rushes to Manhattan, learning that love is what makes families and strengthens bonds. (Based on episode 19x9, “Gone, Baby Gone”)
Relationships: Olivia Benson/Alexandra Cabot
Comments: 13
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

**A.N.** This story is only two chapters long (yes it’s finished) and based heavily off episode 19x9, but is canon divergent (Obviously, since Alex was nowhere near this episode. I just wanted her to be in it so bad). This story is supposed to flow very loosely with the episode. I put it together quick, edited it quick, and had fun with it.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own SVU or the Willard. Everything in this is fictional, just like my writing skills. Happy reading :)

* * *

**Above All Else**

**Washington D.C.** **—9:00AM**

The lawyer’s convention in D.C. was supposed to last eight days. “Foreign affairs and the Constitution”, was the topic of day two. The conventions used to be a source of invaluable knowledge, but in recent years networking superseded quality teachings. A sea of men and women in dark suits inundated the hotel with fake smiles, trying to flaunt their careers. Years ago, that would’ve been her too.

From afar she watched with a smirk as young A.D.A.’s competed, bustling around The Willard with their legal pads to see who could slide into the Elites’ good graces first.

Taken for granted, the convention’s esteemed venue and the hotel that made her feel small; the Victorian era lobby a historic and opulent wonder to behold, marble floors and columns commanding the hotel’s design, similar to the courthouse in many ways.

Her suite, spacious and quiet, was decorated with the finest furniture. But it still wasn’t home.

Other than the room, the lobby quickly became her favorite sitting spot. Here she passed the time between lectures, silently keeping to herself; grounded attributes of her level-headed partner having rubbed off.

In her tailored suit Alex sat at a small, round table with one leg crossed over the other, a simple glass of water her morning refreshment. She smiled at an unfolded piece of paper in her hand.

 _“Don’t open it until you get there.”_ Olivia warned when she left the lieutenant’s apartment. The choice of her late evening departure putting a worried gleam in Olivia’s eyes.

Alex didn’t know what possessed her to drive, why she thought it would be a good idea. But having control in unfamiliar territory was a perk, and D.C.’s rush hour was just slightly better than Manhattan’s.

Tired and worn from the four and a half hour trip, she’d fallen asleep with the unopened envelope on the pillow beside her. There was a letter inside, she knew. It was one of Olivia’s methods of communicating her deepest emotions.

She never properly counted how many she received but this had to be the twentieth or so, each making her feel helplessly lovesick. As with each letter, when she first received the unassuming white envelope her imagination and nerves ran amuck, her name printed on its face plainly in Olivia’s handwriting.

The magic happened once she finally read it, her heart leaping in shock and joy, a few shed tears staining the page.

_“When you get back, I’m going to marry you.”_

Those were the words at the end of the page, and just to read them over and over again, to feel Olivia’s presence with her, she carried the letter in her leather bound Padfolio.

“Mind if I sit with you?”

At the gruff voice, Alex looked to the statured man approaching in what looked like a smooth, tailored Armani suit. Her eyebrows lifted above the rim of her glasses. She recognized him from the first conference of the day. Jack Dalton, a man with a decent build to fill out his suit, and a charming, well maintained beard the same color as his raven hair. According to his introduction in the conference, he was a Denver based A.D.A. that had made surprising headway in a surmounting civil rights case.

And she didn’t have to say anything, he’d sit anyway, his intentions already made clear the moment their eyes connected across that conference room as he stood and waved to the attendees; his gaze holding hers captive for a second too long.

“What can I do for you Mr. Dalton?” Alex slipped the letter into the Padfolio.

“You’ve been awfully quiet. I’m surprised one of Manhattan’s prized Bureau Chiefs isn’t teaching _us_.”

“There’s always something to learn.”

He took the seat in the armchair opposite her and she inwardly sighed. _“Play nice”_ she reminded herself.

“Didn’t think you to be the humble type. Successful lawyers rarely are.”

“From Denver, right?”

“…Yeah.” His voice lacked conviction as though he were ashamed. “D.C. is definitely different, faster moving.”

She chuckled. “Well I can tell you Manhattan is worse.”

“I’m surprised they aren’t gathering around you in droves.”

“Consider yourself brave. I have a reputation for being unapproachable.”

He smiled. “Never would have guessed.”

Alex held back a roll of her eyes, sudden relief coming in the form of a *beep* from her phone. She picked it up from the table.

_“1 new message.”_

“Excuse me. I have to take this.” She left before he could hit her with the “maybe we can continue this later” line. She stopped in a secluded and dim red-carpeted hall of the hotel, staying hidden from the main flow of traffic as she looked at her phone. _“From Rollins?”_ She opened the message.

_“Noah’s missing, Liv’s freaking out.”_

A chill shuddered down her back and her brow furrowed, eyes boring into the phone screen.

Liv freaking out. She could hardly fathom what that looked like. Olivia was always the one calming _her_ down. Every once in a while Olivia vented about her day, like a normal human being, but the woman she’d known for two decades did not “freak out”.

Concern rushed Alex as her thumb hurried to Olivia’s contact. She clicked it and put the phone to her ear. It rang…and rang. “Since when do you not pick up…”

_“You’ve reached Olivia Benson. Please leave a message.”_

That awful, robotic message was the last thing she wanted to hear.

 _“Liv, no one’s going to leave a message if they think a serial killer’s on the other end.”_ That joke gave Olivia a good laugh and got her promising to change it. But as always, work got in the way and they both forgot.

Alex tried the number again. It rang…

_“You’ve reached Olivia Benson. Please—”_

She hung up, her heart thumping in her chest as she swiftly moved to Rollins’s contact and pressed.

_“Rollins.”_

“Why isn’t Liv answering her phone?” The curtness in her voice sounded harsher than she thought when it came out.

_“We’re sweeping through the mall. She probably can’t hear it.”_

Alex took a breath. “What happened?”

_“Sheila brought him to the mall for some coat, said she turned around and he was gone.”_

Gone…no, that kid meant the world to Liv, and for Rollins to describe her reaction as “ _freaking out”_ , Liv had to be spiraling.

_“You still there?”_

“I’m coming back.”

“Liv wouldn’t want you to do that—”

“Liv doesn’t always say what she means.” Alex made sure the non-negotiable tone in her voice was crystal clear.

_“I-I’m sure we’ll find him soon.”_

“Keep an eye on Sheila. I never trusted her.” Alex hung up before Amanda could say anything more, briskly starting in the direction of the elevators.

* * *

_'That Bitch.’_ Had to be her, Sheila; the hint of something uneasy in her eyes and voice always sent a bad feeling to her gut. But Olivia only tried to do the right thing by letting the off-kilter woman in.

How could she keep Noah from knowing his roots? To do so would be selfish and she loved him enough to protect him from feeling possible heartache once he knew there was a side of himself he’d never know. She wanted him to be connected to his past in some way, not wandering in obscurity, ruminating over the question “Who am I?” for the rest of his life.

In the suite, Alex struggled to hang the suit she’d stripped off; messing with the garment bag was a task of delicacy she didn’t have time for. She wanted to shove it all in the suitcase and flee the room with as much haste as she could muster, Liv admittedly on her mind before Noah.

Almost a year to the day she’d returned to Manhattan, and she was still getting used to the boy who looked so much like Olivia, and him to her.

_“You do boring stuff.”_

_“That’s what grownups do.”_

_“I don’t want to be a grownup.”_

_“Yeah well sometimes neither do I.”_

He called her boring, but it never stopped him from coming over to see what she was working on or reading, asking all sorts of questions about the papers spread across the apartment’s kitchen table. And yes, sometimes she wanted to pull her hair out. But digging deep, she found that nurturing spot in her soul, letting him sit with her (sometimes in her lap) even if he just stared at the legalese or scribbled on the pictures in the newspaper.

_“What is this?”_

Out of the corner of her eye she’d catch the words his tiny finger pointed to. She’d pronounce them and give an explanation, only to find him slowly falling asleep or drooling in boredom. Apparently, his developing brain wasn’t quite ready for deep, analytical conversations (but he’d be the smartest damn kid in his class when he finally started school, able to fill out a subpoena, read stock market trends, and answer even the hardest trivia questions thrown his way. Olivia disapproved, but the New York Times was also a great way to level up his reading skills).

Most kids hated her. They always loved Olivia, but if she stepped into the same room as the detective, they shrunk in their seats.

Brazen forthrightness, unrelenting determination, and everything else that made her a formidable lawyer, also turned her into the _“scary tall mean lady”._

That’s why she used to watch interviews from the safety of the two-way mirror, mesmerized to see how easily kids opened up to Olivia; a somehow beautiful phenomenon to witness. They must’ve seen something in her they trusted, must’ve felt what she admired in the detective, peering right through the darkness in her eyes to what was purest, her good-natured soul.

But when she saw Olivia for the first time in years, her heart nearly stopped at seeing the boy that called Olivia “mommy” latched in her former lover’s grasp.

Was Olivia seeing someone? When had she gotten pregnant? Her mind ran wild for days until Olivia told her how she gained custody of Noah.

In truth, feelings of being an intruder, imposing upon a family that wasn’t hers, still lingered but lightened every day.

No doubt she’d been stupid in the past, forsaking the relationship she thought was only a fling in search of “purpose”— whatever that could be defined as.

It was hearing Olivia’s voice over the phone that brought her back, in a conversation that started as a simple reaching out but turned into a bridging of lives once again.

But the worst part…even after that call, she still avoided Olivia for another six months. Something about having to face those eyes and the feelings that came with that rattled her.

Alex Cabot attached herself to no one. That’s what she used to think until she realized her heart still tugged in Olivia’s direction. And now her stomach sank, at the thought of losing the little boy who ran into the bedroom every morning and smothered her with Eddy.

Alex pulled on a pair of jeans and Olivia’s navy-blue NYPD sweatshirt that she’d long since commandeered. It hung looser on her than Olivia, but she liked its cozy aesthetic. The last thing she wanted to think about was running around in heels and a snug suit, trying to catch a riled lieutenant.

She wound her hair into a messy bun and tossed on her navy overcoat, doing a last check of the room before snatching the small suitcase off the bed, all but throwing open the door on her way out.

In the hall, she glanced to a familiar figure approaching, his expensive dark suit catching her gaze first.

“You’re leaving?”

At the gruff voice she looked up, not hiding the displeasure in her eyes. God, had the hotel actually given him her room number.

“I’m married Mr. Dalton.” She stormed past him and to the elevators at the end of the hall.

“To a lieutenant Benson?” He called out as she pressed the button for the elevator and turned over her shoulder to the man slowly approaching.

“What do you want Mr. Dalton?”

“Word gets around.” He stopped and looked to his feet, his hands tucked in his pockets. “It might be premature, but I was hoping we could just be friends.” His eyes met hers, an innocence in them she didn’t notice before. “We have a lot more in common than you know.”

_*Ding*_

“I have to go.” Alex stepped into the elevator.

“If I’m ever in Manhattan I’ll let you know.” He waved as the doors closed.

Finding solace in the security of the elevator, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. The game Mr. Dalton played was one she didn’t recognize. She had an inkling her assumptions of him were wrong, but ignored it, silently reveling at the way the word married sat naturally on her lips for once; No one giving her a surer gut feeling than Olivia. She had to see her, or at least hear her voice. A four-hour trip was too grueling a time to wait for answers.

* * *

Checkout was a thankful breeze and she stepped out of the parking garage elevator, making a beeline for the black Mercedes sitting amongst a plethora of other luxury vehicles.

Alex tossed her suitcase into the trunk and settled into the driver’s seat with a sigh, the full grain leather seat a small comfort.

She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and dialed Olivia’s number again, tilting her head to the headrest.

It rang—

_“ **Yes**.”_

She straightened, stiffening at Olivia’s brazen voice. Frustrated and angry, she could only imagine Olivia had picked up the phone without looking at who was calling.

“Liv it’s me.” Alex hunched over, her words soft and tender.

An unsteady sigh came through the speaker. Even if she wasn’t there, she could feel Olivia’s trembles with each of the lieutenant’s shaky breaths.

“Are you okay?” Alex leaned onto her elbow and pressed her fingers to her temple, her brow furrowing at the silence left in the wake of her question. “Rollins told me.”

_“…I can’t do this…right now Alex.”_

The sniffle on the other end of the phone broke her heart and she turned the car on.

 _“Don’t worry about it.”_ Olivia left a pause in the air. _“We’ll…We’ll find him.”_

Alex backed out of the parking space with the phone shrugged to her ear as Olivia tried to disguise her cracking voice with a clear of her throat.

 _“I gotta go Rollins is calling. I’ll keep you updated.”_ Olivia rushed out.

“Liv—”

The call disconnected.

“Damn it.” Alex dropped the phone in the cup holder and pushed the gas pedal more desperate than normal.

* * *

**Manhattan Precinct—11:30AM**

The whole squad room hustled with no time to waste. Phones rang off the hook; the crinkle of papers rustling in the air. Fin said he’d be coming back with a new lead but didn’t elaborate over the phone. So Rollins sat at her desk having run through her last lead, watching Olivia pace her office for the umpteenth time. The mother in Olivia was starting to fall apart with each hour that passed; that feeling of needing to do something but not knowing what eating at her. 

Alex needed to be here. She had a special dynamic with Olivia. Just her presence would’ve been enough to ease the stubborn cop’s mind, even if just a little.

It used to be all arguments between the two, but Rollins had enough tenure in the precinct to know their “arguments”—while heated—were never hostile. But when the lawyer came back to Manhattan, taking the position of Bureau Chief of Homicide, there was a noticeable softness to their interactions with one another. For a few weeks the squad room sullied with rumors regarding the pair; Alex’s frequent visits to a department she no longer prosecuted for not helping to settle the grapevine. And then, out of the blue, Alex and Olivia disclosed the relationship to less fanfare than they expected. According to Fin it was all old news, he was more surprised it had taken them almost twenty years to get serious about a relationship.

“Gather around.” Fin walked into the squad room and headed to the briefing area, pulling up an image of a New Hampshire driver’s license on the television screen; the face of an unassuming man of Latin American descent staring back at them.

Olivia hustled out of her office and they congregated around the conference table.

*clack clack clack clack clack*

The sole of Rollins’s black calfskin boot tapped into the linoleum floor where she stood with her arms crossed over her chest. At a sideways glance from Olivia Rollins stilled her eagerness. They all stood around the table, Carisi in front of her and Liv beside her, but if their blood pumped as fast as hers, sitting in those chairs was the last thing on their mind.

Olivia’s gaze honed in on the screen, glowering at the kidnapper’s face. She was seething, Rollins knew it. But a noble person, the anger on Olivia’s face loosened as she calmed as much as she could given the situation. How Olivia managed to try and think rationally, Rollins didn’t know. Hell, had Noah been one of her kids, Olivia would’ve had to keep her from busting someone’s head in; her guaranteeing the assailant would’ve been a crumple, broken mess.

Rollins supposed the only weak source of solace for Olivia was that Sheila wanted Noah as much as her, she wouldn’t hurt him. Then again, they’d seen people crazy enough to do the opposite, some of those “If I can’t have you, no one can” types, and the disturbed gleam in Sheila’s eyes told them she wasn’t far off.

A part of their blue blood family, they’d all pitch in and do anything it took to get Noah back. Olivia couldn’t lose her son.

“Juan Ortoli, fifty years old from Derry, New Hampshire. He owns a gardening company.” Fin started.

“And he made a 10,000 deposit two weeks ago.” Carisi jumped in.

Rollins’s brow furrowed and she glanced to the uneasy lieutenant. “Does that seem cheap for a kidnapping?”

Something brightened in Olivia’s eyes. “Hold on, two weeks ago? Noah had his first sleepover at Sheila’s two weeks ago. Juan must’ve been there, t-that’s why Noah didn’t fight back.”

“Tried to trace his phone. No dice. Must be off.”

Olivia didn’t look disheartened by what Fin said, she had another plan coming through. “I’ll have the Derry PD sit on the house until you guys get there. It’s about a four-hour drive.”

Olivia read her mind.

“It’s three if you got a badge.” Rollins started out of the squad room with Carisi in tow and fire in her eyes, ready for a good ole’ confrontation her way.

 _“Rollins, watch it.”_ She expected something to that effect from Olivia; Olivia having a good eye for catching when she was in a dangerous mood. But the lieutenant didn’t say anything to mediate their actions this time, just let them go.

* * *

**Outskirts of New York—2:45PM**

Her car had never been this dirty.

The snow that dusted the stretches of highway I-95 had kicked up and caked the Mercedes’s trims and bumpers, grey dirt splattered midway up each door.

Trees dusted white, dreary grey skies hanging over her head, the biting sixteen degree cold, it all reminded her of Stephen King’s _The Shining;_ her anxiety winding with stretches of twisting road and withering with long expanses of emptiness, only to resurface with each worried thought of Liv.

The roads narrowed toward the horizon, seeming to carry on endless; her eyes heavying as hours passed.

Don’t stare at the white and yellow lines. That was supposed to be a no-brainer for any traveler driving. So then why was it so difficult not to get caught up in the hypnotic cycle, as one line came after the other.

Oh, how she missed the stamina of her youth.

Alex leaned over the car’s roof with a hand over her eyes, gas guzzling into the car’s tank beside her.

The gas station smelled like rotting garbage. She almost wasn’t going to stop but the car begged and beeped as the tank started to empty. Plopped in the industrial outskirts of New York, she scanned the old station when she first pulled in; truck drivers in flannel and a couple bundled families eyeing her and the Mercedes. The men sized her, her stature and cold stare likely the reason they turned their glances away.

Alex lifted her gaze, brushing from her face the short strands having slipped out of her ponytail. The world around her moved so slow and languid; her eyes tricking her into believing she had a moment to relax.

At a muffled ringing she eased herself off the cold roof with a push, giving her neck a satisfying stret—

 _‘Damn it.’_ Her phone was ringing and she was wasting time. She yanked open the driver’s door, the phone buzzing in the cup holder, wailing its tone throughout the car. Snatching it up she pressed it to her ear.

“What is it Rollins?”

The gas nozzle signaled its end with a hefty click and release of the latch.

_“Where are you?”_

Car noise hummed on the other side of the phone, gently distorting Rollins’s voice.

“Right outside the city.” She didn’t need to specify which one. “How’s Liv? Heard anything—”

_“Up for a four-hour drive to New Hampshire?”_

Alex paled and waited for another response, hoping Rollins was joking. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

_“Sorry.”_

Alex backed out of the car and put the gas nozzle on the pump’s hook with a groan, ignoring the exorbitant price on the pump’s display.

_“Your gut was right. It’s Sheila—”_

“What?” A sudden furrow clenched her brow as she hopped into the driver seat and all but slammed the door.

_“She’s gone and we’re convinced she has Noah somewhere in New Hampshire but aren’t sure where. Carisi and I are investigating a lead right now with her accomplice.”_

“Headed where?” Alex wanted to grit her teeth.

_“Look, you don’t worry about that. Just follow I-91. Hopefully I’ll have something in the next hour.”_

Alex started the car and pulled out from the station. “I don’t like not knowing where I’m going. Get me an address.” She hung up before Rollins could respond.

* * *

With a grimace, Rollins looked at the phone she’d taken from her ear. “God she’s bossy. I wonder how Liv puts up with her sometimes.”

“Who?” Carisi kept his eyes focused out the windshield, his hands relaxed along the steering wheel.

Rollins stayed quiet, debating whether or not to say anything. But what would he do? Tattle on her to Olivia? No, they both knew now was not the time to bother the boss with anything besides news related to Noah.

“Rollins.” Carisi pressed.

She shifted in her seat, seeing his head turn to her intermittently from the corner of her eye. “If Liv were—If my partner were having a rough time I’d want to know.” She said nonchalant, with a passive gesture of her hand.

Carisi raised an eyebrow but a second later his eyes widened. “Alex? Y-You told her?”

Rollins sighed at the riling tone in his voice.

“Wait, She’s on her way? She’s in D.C—”

“Was in D.C.”

“S-So she’s driving from D.C. to New Hampshire?”

“Yeah.” Rollins deflated turning her gaze out the passenger window. “Sure do wish I had someone who loved me that much.” She grumbled, not catching the clench of Carisi’s jaw as the man quieted and glanced to his hands on the wheel. Turning over her shoulder, she banged against the cruiser’s partition with her fist, getting the wimpish, middle aged man handcuffed in the back seat to look at her. “Mr. Ortoli, I’d be prayin’ that kid is alive and well, because not only have you pissed off an NYPD lieutenant, but now you got a prosecutor hot on your ass too.”

“Who?”

“Only Manhattan’s finest attorney with twenty years under her belt and friends in very high places……I’d be prayin’ Mr. Ortoli.” She shifted in her seat, sharing a quick glance with Carisi. She wanted to feel bad for Sheila’s jilted accomplice. He looked like a puppy who’d been yelled at, cowering away with its tail tucked between its legs. But like many perps, he had options and he chose the wrong ones.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. After I finished this chapter I wasn’t happy with it. It didn’t turn out quite as I wanted it to. I tried to stay true to the canon 19x9 episode, but I think that hindered me and I played it too safe. I really want to push Alex’s character to the edge and explore her personality. So, I just might. No promises, but if time permits, I’ve got something else up my sleeve for this :)**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for your comments and taking the time to put them down. If anything, I’m happy so many of you enjoyed the first part. At least I know I got that one right lol.**

**Happy reading :)**

* * *

**New Hampshire—6 PM**

The sun began to set, fiery colors peeking through the darkening sky.

She just wanted to close her eyes for a second.

Warm heat flowed from the car vents, wrapping her in the perfect mix of comfort; the cozy atmosphere protecting her from the harsh chill outside. Just like cuddling up with Liv on a cold, drafty day, she wanted to succumb to peace, anything after sitting through Manhattan’s exhausting rush hour.

On the open road, gliding through more emptiness than she could fathom, Alex’s eyes closed; the wheel slackening in her grasp as the car gently veered in its own direction.

_*RING*_

The phone’s boisterous ringing jolted her awake.

Eyes wide, heart pounding at her astray path, her hands latched onto the steering wheel and yanked the car to the center; the sight of the guardrail she’d swerved away from putting a lump in her throat. _‘Never tell Liv about that. She’d have my license revoked.’_

_“Incoming call, Amanda Rollins.”_ The Mercedes’s automated voice interrupted her guilty thoughts as it read the words scrolling across the infotainment center.

She couldn’t click the button on her steering wheel fast enough. “What is it Rollins?”

_“396 Green Mountain Drive.”_

It sounded like Rollins was reading from something as the woman’s voice flooded the speakers.

_“Fin just texted me where Liv’s headed.”_

“Is he with her?”

_“No. He said she was adamant that he stay behind—”_

“Idiot! Both of them.” The thought of Liv facing potential danger alone sparked a fire within Alex. “Seriously, you’d think after twenty years they’d know each other well enough to not let the other do stupid stuff.” Snow misted the windshield, but she didn’t care, Olivia’s wellbeing mattered more as her foot pressed the gas pedal harder.

_“Counselor, I hope you aren’t speeding in this weather.”_

Alex held her growl in her throat.

_“I’ll really get my ass handed to me if I have to tell Liv you crashed into a tree on your way here.”_ Rollins paused. _“She’ll never forgive me…Don’t. Speed.”_

The call ended from Rollins’s side, and with an irritated sigh rumbling from her mouth, Alex lightened her foot on the pedal. She pushed the navigation button on the infotainment center. “396 Green Mountain Drive, New Hampshire.” She repeated for the system.

_“Routing……Course found. Trip time, forty-three minutes.”_

Revived, adrenaline pumped through her veins. “Almost there Liv.” She whispered.

* * *

“I got a feeling she’ll get there before us.” Rollins rushed to the cruiser’s driver door and ripped it open.

Carisi ran to the passenger’s side. “Well let’s get movin’—”

“Or else we’ll be dealing with a disbarred lawyer and a suspended cop.” Rollins finished his thought.

* * *

Olivia stared down the barrel of a gun. Her gun. A dull ache on the back of her head where Sheila had hit her.

Sheila was no longer Sheila, but a dangerous person with intent to kill. Down the hall behind her, light spilled on the floor from beneath a closed door.

Noah was in that room. She had to get past Sheila, but the gun was locked firm in the woman’s grasp.

“He will never be a part of you the way he is a part of me.”

At that, Olivia’s simmering gaze challenged Sheila. “Blood isn’t the only thing that makes families Sheila.” Her heart slammed against her rib cage, but she fought the adrenaline, controlled it in order to keep a clear head. Her jaw clenched as Sheila stepped closer, but she held her ground. The smugness on Sheila’s face made her blood boil, but the grief in her eyes that turned into indifference saddened her. She’d been there; she felt her pain, because she knew what it was like to lose a piece of herself and be mad at the world for it.

But this time she couldn’t sympathize. Sheila was wrong to take Noah, and delusional to think she’d keep him. There would be no middle ground. Sheila would have to pull that trigger in order to accomplish her twisted goals, something the woman obviously knew.

_‘I did this.’_ Staring into Sheila’s eyes, Olivia blamed herself. She let Sheila into their lives without a plan and the woman cunningly waited for her to drop her guard.

_“There’s something off about her.”_

She should’ve trusted Alex’s intuition. When was it ever wrong? The two were at odds anytime they were in the same room. After a while, Alex just stopped speaking to her and came to the apartment when she knew Sheila wouldn’t be around.

* * *

**Franconia, New Hampshire—6:30 PM**

The Mercedes loyally climbed the snow-slushed road overlooking the mountain side as Alex wound through a pass, coming out the other end to a scenery of winter stripped trees looking like toothpicks sticking out of floured, unblemished dough. But hurrying to the address, she didn’t have time to enjoy the scenic beauty of the vast white landscape beyond the shoulders of the road. And with Sheila’s memory stamped into the surroundings, she never would. A cozy cabin in the mountains snuggled with Liv seemed like an inviting idea. But there were plenty of other places where they could make that dream a reality. Here wasn’t one of them.

_“You’ve arrived at your destination.”_

Her brow tensed as she neared an eerie, drab brown cabin sitting on a hill. The hairs on the back of her neck perked and her jaw clenched. This whole day had to be ripped from a horror movie; the property reminding her of something from a chain saw flick.

A layer of snow blanketed the driveway but she plowed into it, nearly thrown into the wheel at her jerking stop; a grateful thought passing through her mind for the fortitude of the sturdy, mid-sized car, as she pried her hands off the steering wheel and ignored their slight tremors.

She turned the car off and shoved the door open before she could think, her heart racing, chest filling with dread.

The crisp air and pine smell hit her, but again, no time to enjoy its relaxing effects. She trudged up the yard leaving footprints in her wake, her slip-on shoes just tall enough to escape submerging into the frigid snow. She scanned the property, pondering over the possible scene playing out inside the house.

Chilling wind gently whistled past her ears, but it was still too quiet. Was Olivia even here?

Alex climbed the snowy slope, tentative but impatient.

*Thunk…Thunk*

Her attention snapped to the direction of the sound—the rustic, screened in deck. A brown tuft of…fur?

Alex narrowed her gaze to the hovering fuzz on the other side.

*Thunk…Thunk*

_“Mommy.”_

That faint voice sounded like Noah. Her eyes brightened with hope and she hurried up the embankment, reaching the cabin with a gasp. It wasn’t fur, but curly, dusky brown hair. Noah’s hair.

“Noah.”

The kid jumping up and down on the wooden deck in a flannel set of red checkered pajamas stopped at the frantic calling of his name.

She searched for the entrance to the deck, heading to the rickety screen door she spotted; the snow clunking, almost tripping her hasty movements.

The screen screeched something awful when she pulled it open, and with his hands gripped around the front door’s knob, Noah looked over his shoulder.

“Noah.” Her eyes connected with his as she stepped in, preparing a crouch to his level.

“Alex!” He forgot about the door, racing across the deck with his sock clad feet. But before she could tell him to be careful, he launched at her, arms grabbing her neck, yanking her down.

Doubled over and pulled to her knee by his weight, she thrusted a saving hand to the deck’s cold surface, a grin stretching across her face as her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose, her arm clutching him tight. She sat up, hugging him where she knelt; him clinging to her, smiling over her shoulder.

The tribulations of the day weren’t enough to break her, but this bittersweet reunion made her eyes tear. Never would she have imagined that she’d feel so emotional over a kid. She cocked eyebrows at babies, not understanding the excitement they brought. To her, kids were a roadblock halting her career. But Noah…he was different.

She pulled back, pushing her glasses to their proper position as she looked into his bright hazel eyes. “Hey bud. Where’s mom?” She stroked his hair, the fibers cool beneath her palm.

“She’s talking to Grandma Sheila.”

A growling struggle erupted from behind the red door opposite them, muffled but hard impacts slamming into its surface. Her gaze shot to it and her body froze, muscles stiff and tense. _‘Liv.’_ The door rattled violent from the other side, jarred against its hinges.

With a shuddered breath, she scooped Noah into her arms and stood, Olivia’s name on her lips, relief short-lived.

The front door jolted and shook again; Alex clutching Noah to her chest.

A heavy scrape dragged down the door and her brow furrowed; her mouth gently agape as she tried to process the ongoing altercation behind the door.

She had to do something, had to get into that house. But how? She couldn’t leave Noah alone, Olivia wouldn’t have wanted her to.

_“Don’t worry about me. Get Noah out of here.”_ Alex heard Olivia’s voice in her mind, but that fire sparked within her again.

_‘Like hell I’m leaving you behind.’_ She took a step forward, her gaze darting around the deck. There had to be something she could use or do. Rollins was already on her way, no doubt with back up. No need to call.

Other options. There were always multiple approaches to any situation, but what were they?

The deck was clean, nothing to use to get the door open. There was always ramming it with her body. Yeah, that could work. Fuck the chronic pain in her right shoulder. Or she could kick it in; she’d seen Olivia bust through a door before. It didn’t look too hard. She just had to focus her aim on that space beside the locking mechanism. But that heavy scrape…what if something were against the door, blocking it from the other side? A body—Oh God. Liv. What if Sheila had bludgeoned her to death?

Alex’s mind jumbled, swimming in a growing haze of scattered thoughts.

She could tell Noah to stay on the deck. Run to find a window—and what—bust through it? Not a smart idea.

“Why are you breathing funny?”

Noah’s voice snapped her out of her consuming thoughts as he poked at the cold sweat settling on her brow; her shallow breaths matching her racing heart.

_‘Calm down Cabot, Reset.’_

On the other side of her panic, her gut was calm. Liv was alive, she just knew. And the lieutenant would’ve told her to breathe and look at the bigger picture.

She was blind to the situation in the cabin. Barging in would’ve put everyone at risk. Even in movies the person who broke into the creepy house was almost always caught. What good would that do? Noah would be left vulnerable and alone.

It was better if she hampered the urge to call Olivia’s name and kept her presence unknown. She was the last person Sheila wanted to see.

Alex took another step toward the door but stopped, the engine roars rushing their way stealing her focus as she looked out the screen.

Two squad cars skid haphazardly into the driveway and grass. Rollins jumped out of one vehicle, Carisi matching her haste up to the cabin. Climbing out the second cruiser two FPD officers stood in wait.

“Counselor get over here!” Rollins commanded her as a police officer, not a friend.

Alex looked back to the red door. The silence on the other end puzzled her. She hesitated to leave. If Olivia died, she’d never forgive herself for walking away. 

“Counselor!”

A lump thickened in her throat, but she clutched Noah and backtracked to the screen door, easing it open. Down the embankment she started with guilt in her heart, her eyes finally connecting with her informant’s as Rollins met her halfway with a bulletproof vest under her zipped NYPD jacket.

The detective looked to Noah, putting on her brightest smile as they stopped. “Hey Noah, where’s mom?”

“Inside with Grandma Sheila.”

“Did you see what they were doing?”

“Grandma Sheila was pointing at mommy.”

Rollins’s gaze flicked to Alex’s and she drew her gun, keeping it pointed to the ground. “With something like this?”

Noah nodded and Alex’s eyes shot wide, but she killed the frantic urge to yank Rollins’s collar and say “Do something”. That wouldn’t help anything. Besides…Liv was a more than competent officer. She likely had the situation under control.

“I-I heard a struggle, no shots.”

“We need to get in there now.” Rollins strode past them but halted stiff at the screen door’s screech, clutching her gun with both hands as they all stood on edge, waiting for someone to emerge. “NYPD show m—"

“Rollins put the gun away.”

At Olivia’s voice they released a collective sigh as the lieutenant emerged, leading a teary-eyed Sheila down the embankment in handcuffs; Olivia’s brow tense and her gaze showing disappointment.

“Thank God.”

Olivia perked at her voice and Alex started toward her; Rollins tugging Sheila—rather rough—from the lieutenant’s slackening grasp, growling something about _“The time you’ve cost us.”_

Their gazes locked, Olivia staring at her shellshocked; the pinch of the woman’s brow making Alex uneasy.

Of course…in Olivia’s mind she was still in D.C. 

A myriad of emotions passed through the lieutenant’s features. Awe, concern, relief, more disappointment, and even a little anger.

“Alex?”

“Yeah.” Alex sighed out with a worn smile feeling her adrenaline drain as she stopped; Olivia closing the distance, putting a gentle hand on Noah’s back.

“How did…” Olivia didn’t finish her predictable question, just reached out and pulled them into a hug, Noah smooshed in the middle. Such a personal moment would’ve never been in front of onlookers, but this time that didn’t matter.

So quiet, yet so telling, the moment was theirs, the world melting away as Alex closed her eyes. Liv was here, so far physically unscathed, though time would only tell if the same were said for her mind. And even though Alex knew she had more right to be angry with the cop who’d put herself in danger—a crazed woman pointing a gun at her—she let it go, just content to feel Olivia’s arms around her, squeezing into them as though she’d never let go.

Olivia pulled back placing a kiss atop Noah’s hair, but Alex took an arm from Noah and wrapped it around Olivia’s waist, not satisfied with their short-lived hug. She needed to feel Liv just a little longer and drew Olivia close, pressing their foreheads together with a growing smile as the lieutenant’s hand warmed her cheek, cruiser engines rumbling in the background. “Thank Rollins.”

Olivia’s mouth tugged up at one corner. “I don’t know whether to thank her or suspend her—”

“No, No, NO.”

Alex and Olivia separated at Sheila’s outburst, looking to the woman staring at them horrified over the side of the FPD cruiser she was pressed against.

“A boy can’t become a man without a father figure.”

Alex’s hand slipped from Olivia as a furrow clenched her brow. She took a step in Sheila’s direction with not a rational thought in her mind, but Olivia grabbed her coat lapel with a tug and shook her head; Rollins’s _“Oh shut up”_ sounding as the detective shoved Sheila into the cruiser.

“Let it go.”

Alex turned back to Olivia, an upward crease emerging at the center of her brow. “Did you actually think I was going to hurt her?” She chuckled, but Olivia only held a small smile in return. “Come on, I’d never do something like that.”

“You should see the look in your eyes.”

Alex stiffened. “Do I really look that bad?”

The tight stretching smile and nod from Olivia only served to fluster her. The heaviness under her eyes and emptiness of her neglected stomach noticeable for the first time.

“How long was that drive?”

Relenting, Alex looked down, Olivia’s hand taking her arm.

“You didn’t have to come all the way up here.”

Alex met Olivia’s gaze with fervent confidence in her own. “Yes I did.”

Olivia opened her mouth, but no words came. The lieutenant settling with a grateful smile.

“I’m cold.”

They both turned to where Noah sat huddled against Alex’s shoulder.

“I know sweetie, we’ll be home soon.” Olivia laid a gentle hand atop his wild curls.

“Come on, I’ll drive you back—” Alex started to the car, barely taking a step before her coat was tugged again.

“No, I’ll drive _you_.” Olivia touched Alex’s cheek, this time brief as she turned to their audience and headed to the bottom of the embankment. “I’m taking a day off—”

“A couple days off.” Alex clarified Olivia’s announcement for the NYPD detectives as she followed; Rollins and Carisi trying to conceal their smirks as they watched Olivia approach. Only one person told the boss what to do and could get her to do it without protest.

“Okay…a couple days off. Hold down the fort while I’m gone. I’ll call Fin in the morning.”

“Sure thing Lieu.” Carisi rounded the cruiser and opened the passenger door. “Casual looks good on you counselor.” He disappeared in the car before Alex could say anything; the lawyer mustering a smile as she pulled open the Mercedes’s door and settled Noah into the back seat.

“Put your seat belt on.”

Noah tugged the seatbelt with both hands and pulled it over himself. Satisfied at the seatbelt’s click Alex took off her coat and draped it over him before she closed the door, looking to where Olivia stood hovering over Rollins, speaking in hushed tones. Too tired to care about the conversation, she opened the passenger door and got in, closing her eyes as the heavy weight of her relief melted her into the seat. She’d have to thank Rollins one day.

* * *

“What exactly did you tell her?” Olivia confronted Rollins with a tame, knowing smile, her hand gripping the edge of the NYPD cruiser’s open driver door.

“Uh…nothin’ much…” Rollins glanced to the ground. “Just that Noah was missing.”

“Thank You…” Olivia kept her voice low, setting her other hand on Rollins’s shoulder and leaning in. “But don’t do that again.” She gave the woman a grateful, disarming squeeze and let the detective go, turning to the Mercedes.

“Got it.” Rollins said as Olivia retreated, her fingers crossed behind her back.

* * *

The car door opened beside her, rocking gentle as Liv entered the vehicle. Alex cracked her eyes open at the sudden chill invading the car’s circulating warmth but closed them with a smile and sunk back into the seat, a few beeps of the infotainment center the only sound.

She drifted slow—

An impact caught her left arm, jolting her awake. "Ow!" Alex grabbed her arm. "What the hell Liv—"

"Eighty-four miles an hour in this weather?"

The anger on Olivia’s face was palpable in the air, and Alex looked to the "trip history" stats displayed on the infotainment system. "That was probably…earlier in the trip. I did not climb a mountain at eighty-four miles an hour." She turned to the windshield with a clench of her jaw. Computers were fallible and after soldiering through the sudden, tolling trip from D.C., the Mercedes was bound to make a mistake somewhere.

There’s no way she could’ve climbed the mountain at that speed, at least she didn’t think she did…maybe. There were a few fast swiping turns that had her mind screaming “You’re going to die”, but she kept everything under control.

Olivia glanced away with a roll of her eyes. "Come on Alex, you're dating a cop. I can tell you were speeding just by the way the dirt's streaked across the vehicle."

"I'm sorry...” Alex felt her sarcasm; the first of her defense mechanisms. “Did you want me to take my time and enjoy the scenic route whil—" Hands grabbed Alex’s face and pulled her over the center console, lips cutting her off with a kiss.

Liberating, her fight simmered away as Olivia’s breath mixed with hers, but it was over as fast as it started, leaving her dazed and wanting more.

"Your wellbeing is more important to me." Olivia didn’t look at her.

Alex put a hand around Olivia’s wrist, her gaze softening. "What do you think I was thinking when Rollins told me you were freaking out?"

The hands warming Alex's face slipped away as Olivia sucked her teeth and turned to the windshield. "That's what she said?" Olivia glanced out the windows, but to Rollins's luck both cruisers had already left.

"Hey." Alex touched Olivia's thigh with a grin as she leaned over the console. "I thought I was _marrying_ a cop." She took the flap of Olivia’s coat and pulled, Olivia's nose brushing hers.

"Kissing tamspits germs."

With eyebrows raised, Alex turned to the boy who sat swallowed in her coat in the back seat, staring at them disapprovingly. _‘Why does that sound familiar?’_ She watched him hoping to find an answer, and it clicked. Right, their little chat about carnival kissing booths. But it was just a passive conversation after Noah found her reading the newspaper on the sofa.

"And Noah where did you learn that?" Olivia watched Alex with a knowing look, Alex opening her mouth but closing it with a guilty smile.

"New York Times."

"Busted. You..." Olivia pushed Alex back to the seat with a finger. "...can sit back down—"

"Liv come on. It was an article about why kissing booths are bad—"

"Because as parents we have to set an example, as I'm sure you agree. What do we expect from him if we have no restraint?"

Out the passenger window Alex smiled, not because of Olivia's smug and borderline sarcastic remarks but because she said _parents_.

A warm kiss pecked her cheek and the car started in reverse.

"We're protecting his innocence Alex. No New York Times."

"He loves the crossword. He learns new things.”

"He draws in the margins while you glare at it."

Alex’s smile didn’t fade.

* * *

**Manhattan—2:30AM**

The Apartment…home. Alex welcomed its familiar smell. A little air freshener, cleaning product, and takeout lingering in the air.

She hung her coat on the rack by the door with a tired lift of her arm as Olivia carried the half-asleep boy to his room, Noah’s cheek pressed to her shoulder and his hands loose around her neck.

Alex meandered towards the kitchen, a meal sitting heavy in her stomach; Olivia forcing a detour from the road to get them to eat; a cozy diner on the outskirts of New York their choice.

_“Don’t you want to sit next to him?”_

_“No.”_

Olivia had smiled at them both from across the booth, and even though she wanted to ask about what happened in the cabin, Alex didn’t; the disappointment and guilt lingering in Olivia’s eyes telling her the lieutenant wanted to forget Sheila ever walked into their lives.

Alex eyed the sofa, tempted to flop onto it and sink into its plush, but her exhaustion had barely allowed her to eat. If she fell asleep on this sofa, she wouldn’t be able to get up, being greeted with a plethora of age-related aches in the morning. No, she could wait, sleeping with Liv was worth it.

She walked to Noah’s room and leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest.

Olivia sat crouched at Noah’s bedside with her coat still on. The boy cozily tucked under the covers as she lovingly brushed back some of his wild curls.

“Why are you crying?”

At Noah’s innocent question, Alex imagined the silent and subtle tears streaking down Olivia’s cheeks as Olivia reached over, pulling him into a hug and sighing over his shoulder. “Because I love you so much.”

Her own eyes stung at the relief in Olivia’s voice.

“Go to bed.” Olivia gave him a kiss on the forehead and tucked him in. She stood, glancing to Alex with a watery gaze, her shoulders hunched slightly.

“Liv…” Alex pushed off the doorway and took the woman’s arm as Olivia closed Noah’s door to a sliver.

“I’m fine.”

This stubborn cop, always trying to be brave for everyone else. The catch in her voice was enough, and Alex pulled Olivia into her arms; Olivia drawing the back of the NYPD sweatshirt into her tightening grasp.

“I’m fine.” Olivia murmured before hiding her face in the sweatshirt’s soft fabric, warmth seeping through to Alex’s skin. It started as a strained whimper; Olivia trying to hold it together, taking deep breaths.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” With her hand Alex pressed Olivia to her shoulder; the woman’s inevitable sobs finally coming through, breaking louder as they wracked her body with each passing moment.

There were no more words to say, only time to wait as Olivia released the fear, anger, and stress of the day.

That boy, who grounded her more than she knew, was the world to her.

* * *

Everything had finally calmed down, and standing in the shower for almost an hour, inhaling the steam helped ease the tension in her body. She still couldn’t believe Noah was taken from her so easily. What was to say it wouldn’t happen again? Especially in a big city with so many twisted people.

But right now, Noah was safe in his bed, and Alex stretched atop theirs. Her family was home. She could breathe.

The lamp on her nightstand lit the bedroom in a lonely amber glow. Olivia leaned against the bathroom doorway in a t-shirt and shorts, her hair damp and her eyes worn. She mustered an easy smile, gazing at the woman fast asleep on her side; Alex’s glasses still on, smooshed between her ear and the pillow. The hardness of Alex’s features melted away with sleep; the resting softness of her face inviting grateful but intimidating “what would I do without you” thoughts.

The boxy NYPD sweatshirt Alex wore to no end strengthened Olivia’s smile. She hated it, but it seemed to find its purpose with Alex. Good thing she never threw it out.

Soundlessly, Alex’s breaths eased in and out; the woman deserving all the sleep she needed after that unplanned trip, barely able to keep her eyes open on the way home.

Olivia gently pursed her lips. If she’d known about the communications between Alex and Rollins, she would’ve tried to shut them down to keep Alex from leaving D.C. The Convention used to be important to her. For a week and a half each year, since Alex came aboard, the precinct made do without one of its top attorneys. Things didn’t run as smooth without her, but they were used to surviving.

_“Thinkin’ bout Cabot?”_ Elliot used to yank her out of her desk daydreams with those smug words. God, the defensive excuses she made up then seemed so stupid now.

This year Alex hesitated to go to the convention, grumbling something about “just being there to represent Manhattan”.

No, she didn’t mind Alex’s hesitance to leave, welcomed it actually. But the same was not said for the stunt Alex pulled.

Ten hours…she still couldn’t believe Alex had driven all that way, missing the snowstorm about to blow through the northeast by just two days. Although Alex tried to deny it, the Mercedes’s onboard computer rarely failed, and her registered speeding in combination with the slick roads could’ve meant disaster. Her stubbornness—while it had its place—was dangerous sometimes.

But standing on that embankment, the love in Alex’s eyes captured her, she’d never seen it so raw and plain.

_“I think you’ve got something real there Liv. You can’t convince me that she didn’t come back just for you.”_ She remembered chuckling at Elliot’s words to her shortly after Alex came back to the precinct, following her release from witness protection. Funny how he was so right. How he’d seen what they had even before they took their blinders off and realized it.

And this time Alex’s actions, her unrelenting hugs and yearning kisses, confirmed everything Olivia hoped. Alex was here to stay.

Olivia walked to her side of the bed and slipped under the covers. She scooted close, hovering over the attorney as she picked up Alex’s face with a tender touch and carefully pulled the glasses off. With a long reach she set them on Alex’s nightstand.

Twenty years, how could they have waited so long to put rings on their fingers?

Olivia stroked Alex’s cheek, and below her prying gaze Alex stirred, rolling onto her back with a groggy “hm…”.

She brushed back the hair at Alex’s forehead, her fingers just wanting to spend a moment meandering through the healthy blonde tresses; those blue eyes cracking open for a fleeting second but closing again.

“What is it Liv?” Alex murmured but Olivia didn’t answer, instead kissing the attorney’s forehead. "…mm...love you too."

Sitting up, Olivia reached over, pulling out the drawer to her nightstand; her favorite blue pen resting between a legal pad and a stack of envelopes.

With the pen and pad in her grasp, she drew her legs up and leaned back to the bed’s headboard, starting to write as she stole a few glances to the woman beside her; an hour passing before she sealed the letter, penning Alex’s name across the front and setting it on the nightstand next to Alex’s glasses.

With her eyes fighting to stay open, she clicked her lamp off and slid under the covers.

Normally she left Alex some room to roll around as she pleased. Sure, she was used to waking up with a hand on her face or a leg tangled between hers. But being kneed in the groin was a different story; Alex wasn’t lying when she said it would take her a while to adjust to sleeping next to someone.

Tonight however, Olivia curled up at Alex’s side and slipped her hands under the sweatshirt, supple skin and the curve of Alex’s slender waist in her gentle grasp; warmth and life flowing through her palms with each of Alex’s breaths.

She’d gotten lucky. So many people would never know this kind of love, and it truly was the greatest, irreplaceable feeling in the world.

* * *

_Alex,_

_When I heard your voice over the phone I almost hung up. I’m sorry if I worried you, but I pushed you away because I was falling apart with Noah missing. I didn’t want you anywhere near me because I didn’t trust myself. I thought I’d lash out at you with all the emotions rushing through my head, and I didn’t want to hurt you._

_But I should’ve known I can’t hurt you. You’re the immovable force that holds me together, and have been since we met. I’m sure you remember all my trips to your office, and you having to talk me out of doing irrational things or getting too spun up in a case._

_You were always there, helping me think through my options and putting my mind back on track._

_I thought you’d stay in D.C. if I assured you I had everything under control. But you read what I tried to ignore, that I needed you then more than anything._

_Alex, you mesmerize and amaze me more each day. I still find things to love about you._

_You have more heart than you think, and though you may not always show that, I feel it. Noah does too. He loves you and I am the happiest person when I see you two together. You think he likes every adult he meets. He doesn’t. Ask Lucy about his temper tantrums and issues with listening to authority. It takes him time to warm up to people, but his eyes light up when you walk through the door, and they always have. I guess he likes doing that awful crossword with you more than I thought._

_“Where’s Alex? When is she coming back? I want to see Alex.” He never lets up when you’re not around. That’s why Lucy brings him by your office_ _. It’s a miracle you get any work done._

_You’re special to him and I can’t think of a better person to be there to watch him grow up. No one else can be what you are to him. You’re his parent, his family, and the role model he needs._

_Alex, you are my life, my world, what strengthens my purpose, and the person who makes me more than I am. I am ready and too eager to call you my wife._

_I love you more than you know,_

_Olivia_

**END**


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